


portraits & princes

by kirsongs



Category: Nikolai Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Gen, aka ehri and nik play mind games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:00:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29775837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirsongs/pseuds/kirsongs
Summary: Ehri and Nikolai view their first official portrait as the royal couple of Ravka, and reflect on their future together.
Relationships: Ehri Kir-Taban & Nikolai Lantsov
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	portraits & princes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wafflesandkruge](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wafflesandkruge/gifts).



Much could be rumored about the soon-to-be rulers of Ravka, but one thing could not be denied; they certainly did make a striking couple. 

It had helped, of course, that the painter had taken some creative liberty. His hand on her shoulder was now more, a light and loving caress, her small and stiff smile now truly turning upward at the lips, a hint of amusement on her face. They looked as they should, a young couple so passionately in love that they could barely contain themselves for the portrait sitting.

Unfortunately, it was almost laughably far from the truth. At least, to Ehri.

Standing before the massive hung canvas, the Shu princess could barely contain a giggle. _Six Soldiers_ , they looked ridiculous. Their outfits didn't help, either, the gold looking more gaudy than regal. A tribute to the beloved Sun Summoner who had gotten Nikolai onto the throne, she supposed, although Ehri was sure that the martyred girl would be rolling in her grave if she could see this. Anyone with a modicum of taste certainly would be. 

"Well, it certainly is something," Nikolai remarked from her side, gaze still focused on the gallery wall before them. "I'd say it fits in with the rest quite well."

He wasn't wrong on that front. The rest of the gallery hallway was lined with similar portraits, of tsars and tsaritas past, most blonde haired and blue eyed and painted in a similar style. The art trends hadn't changed much in Ravka over the last few hundred years, it appeared. Ehri was glad, at least, that the fashion had - the stiff collars and tight corsets worn by past queens were trends she was more than willing to never indulge in. 

"Correct as usual, my king," she replied, clasping her hands tight behind her back in an attempt to suppress another laugh. "I think we look very fittingly royal." _Despite, of course,_ she wanted to add, _the fact that I'm Shu and hated by your people, as well as my own, and you're a bastard with no birthright who only clings onto the throne due to the support of a years-dead teenage girl._

"Very ready to usher Ravka into a new age," she decided on instead.

Nikolai let out a bark of a laugh then, a genuine smile forming across his face. "Very ready indeed."

Of course, that wasn't even remotely true, and both of them knew it, but they'd been raised in politics, born and bred to lie to save public face. The last thing they needed was the guards at either end of the hallway to go off spreading rumors that the king and his future queen were currently facing war from both sides, with little money and little plan to stop it. So, very ready they would be. 

He dropped his voice then, leaning in so slightly towards Ehri, the smile still on his lips. To the guards, feet away, it would appear as if the king were telling her an inside joke, or flirting as he so often did in public. But Ehri knew better, that his words were polite, nothing more. Self interest behind a facade of honeyed compliments. 

"On the subject of ready for the future, my love," _Soldiers_ , Ehri hated when he called her that, "Queen Makhi Kir Taban has recently informed us that she will, in fact, be attending our wedding at the end of the month."

Oh good, just what Ehri needed. A reunion with her sister, Daughter of Heaven, Blessed to Rule, Celestial Born, and whatever else she was adding to her own title these days. 

"I'm sure she'll be pleased to see me again." She nodded, gaze still turned forward. "I'm sure she'll be more than pleased to see you, as well." Sure, if "pleased" suddenly meant "absolutely infuriated".

"I look forward to meeting your sister. I've heard much about her." The charm was still there in his voice, but Ehri knew what they both did, that with Makhi was bound to come assassination attempts and lab break-ins and any excuse to learn more about their plans against the Fjerdans, who had made their intentions of war very public. Makhi was cunning and ambitious and ruthless above all, Ehri had warned Nikolai. She wasn't sure he believed him, and she wasn't sure she wanted him to. She'd take the opportunity to say "I told you so", even if it came after he'd nearly been poisoned, or stabbed, or shot. It might make her point hit more, actually.

"Your meeting will be a bright and auspicious one for both of our countries." Not.

"I don't see it going any other way." He smiled down at her again, and she finally turned to look up at him, her lips pulled tight in her best imitation of a loving smile. "With all the wedding festivities, how could she be anything but thrilled, and the Ravkan people anything but hopeful?"

Yeah, Ehri hated this public Nikolai persona. 

"May our marriage be a light in these dark times," she responded, recalling the line Genya had taught her.

"Any time anyone brings up the war, deflect it," Genya had lectured, before handing Ehri a stack of handwritten cue cards with lines like "If we could all just listen to one another, everything would be over sooner than it began" and "Well, I know my mind is more on the future we're planning together than anything". Ehri had thought them incredibly cheesy - as had General Nazyalensky, as demonstrated by her audible groan as Ehri had read the first ones aloud - but the Ravkan people seemed to eat them up. Anything about how in love she was, how perfect Nikolai was, how so content she was to settle down and live as his wife - received with nothing but cheers. Give it a fake smile and a kiss and boom, spirits lifted.

"And far beyond, as well," Nikolai added, holding out his arm for her to take. 

With another smile, she took it, stepping back from the painting - praise the Soldiers, and even the Ravkan Saints, she wasn't sure how much longer she could look at it - and turning down the marbled hallway, moving towards the door that led back into the main rooms of the Grand Palace.

"What do you wish for us far beyond these times, my king?" They'd moved within earshot to the guards now, who turned from their post to flank them as they moved through the halls. The words almost hurt for Ehri to say, but she forced them out. A future far beyond their current time with Nikolai as her husband was a topic she'd been hoping to avoid. Like, for forever.

"I wish you happiness," _with me, or with someone else_ , she knew he meant to say, and Ehri glanced up at him suddenly, cognizant of the change in his voice. This was real Nikolai, not the sugared public persona she'd interacted with so often. "I wish you a long life filled with music. With sunlight through windows and a breeze rustling the trees and content in your heart." It was clear to her, now, that he hadn't forgotten her words - her plea - in the conservatory on that fateful night. "I wish you find love so strong that it's all you can think about, that she all that is in your mind, beyond politics and duty."

She'd had that, once, and the feeling made her heart ache, now, the reminder and the recall so strong that she nearly stopped in her tracks. Shit. He'd said "she". Clear and plain. He didn't know, did he? He couldn't know . . . right?

Well, if he did, two could play at that game.

"I wish that for you as well," she began, arm still looped with his. "I wish you happiness, and love. And I hope that you are always able to find the words to say what you mean to those that you truly care for. Both to those who you love, and those who serve you." She looked up at him then, hoping to catch any sign of surprise in his face.

_I know about you and the General, she wanted to say. I see how you watch her enter a room, I hear the whispers of servants when they think my back is turned. But I have learned to listen, Nikolai Lantsov, and I have learned to watch. And you watch that woman like she is everything to you, like she is Ravka and everything you have ever known, and so you would lie and cheat and go to war just to save her, when she pays you no mind and does not watch her tongue and shows no sign of giving anything in return._

"You wish much for me," he responded, no change in his face.

Dammit. 

"High hopes for us, as well." Oh come _on._

"Yes," Ehri repeated. "For us."

For us. They were one now, weren't they? One Ravka, one ruler, one joint legacy in the history books.

One future, whatever it would bring. 


End file.
